Short Film

For all the attempts that FOX has made, they’ve never quite managed to kick off a successful Fantastic Four movie series. While there are a lot of fans out there who don’t really mind that – after all, it’s not as if there aren’t already a hell of a lot of Marvel characters on the big screen right now – it does mean that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is missing some of its bigger characters. Wizard ranked Doctor Doom, the Four’s archenemy, as the fourth greatest villain in its 100 Greatest Villain of All Time. But he hasn’t spent much time on the big screen because of the consistently failure of his superhero counterparts. (more…)

The more I see of Star Wars: Rebels, the more I get excited about it. I wish I could have said the same about The Clone Wars animated series, but while I will admit that it got better with time, that initial taste offered in movie theaters left a lot to be desired. There’s nothing bitter about these Rebels shorts though, and once again this sneak peak at the upcoming Disney XD show reinforces the idea that it’s going to fun, action-packed and has a pretty decent sense of humor. In “Entanglement,” the new character Zeb proves that while the Force may not be with him, he can definitely still use force. (more…)

There was a rumor recently that an upcoming Marvel short film would tell us what happened to Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers’ love interest from Captain America:The First Avengerplayed by Hayley Atwell, after Cap was lost over the Arctic. Well the rumors seem to be true, and Atwell herself is doing the confirming.

Speaking to The Big Issue, Atwell says that indeed she is putting Peggy’s uniform back on and getting ready to kick butt in a new Marvel short film. Here’s what Atwell had to say:

Fans of [Captain America: The First Avenger] really wanted to find out what happened to Peggy afterwards, so Marvel are also making a short film, which is basically ‘What Peggy Did Next’, which will be shown at Comic-Con and be on the DVD extras of the second film. So as well as doing a bit in the new film, I’ve got a whole new spin-off short film. It has been great to be back in training with the stunt co-ordinators, kicking some butt again.

It’s nice that Marvel say the wisdom in giving Atwell and her character even a small showcase. The door was left open, after all, when an Avengers deleted scene revealed that Peggy was still alive and kicking in 2012, and we know that Emily Van Camp will be playing (supposed) Carter descendent Sharon in the upcoming Cap sequel, The Winter Soldier. Atwell also confirmed that Peggy will be seen in a flashback during Winter Soldier, although it won’t be next to actor Robert Redford. Atwell is admirer of the actor who plays a high-ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the film, but she’ll have to “stalk” him in her spare time.

The Peggy Carter short will be screened at Comic Con before being included on the eventual Blu-ray release of The Winter Soldier sometime next year.

A little while back, we brought you the rumor that the Studio Ghibli feature Kiki’s Delivery Servicewas being made into a live-action film, with Japanese horror director Takashi Shimizu on board to direct. Original details were sketchy, but with the announcement made today, brought to us by Japanverse, the rumors are now confirmed.

Takashi Shimizu will direct a live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service, but Studio Ghibli will not be involved in the production. When asked of their possible involvement, the production company denied any involvement in the live action film slated for Spring 2014.

Kiki’s Delivery Service will be based on the first two volumes in the series Majo no Takkyūbin, both written by Eiko Kadono and later adapted into the animated movie from Hayao Miyazaki. Kind of a let down, but it’s unlikely that any studio would license their concepts to be used in a film they have absolutely no involvement in.

Don’t fret, Studio Ghibli has it’s own live action short in the works. You can look forward to giant robot action, and this one is actually produced by Studio Ghibli.

Originally played in theaters along with Evangelion 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, the nine minute short Giant God Warrior Appears inTokyo, is actually the studio’s first live-action effort. Featuring a monster design by Miyazaki (seen above) the short has been pulled due to a copyright claim by the studio, so watch it while you thanks to our friends at Dread Central before it’s too late.

“Kyoshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru” (Giant God Warriors Appear in Tokyo) is a short Tokusatsu movie created as a promotional video for the “TOKUSATSU – Special Effects Exhibition” at “TOKUSATSU – Special Effects Museum”, which has Anno Hideaki (Eva’s director) as museum director, in Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. The movie was proposed to be shown with “Evangelion 3.0” by Suzuki Toshio and Anno Hideaki agreed with that. As a movie version, its pictures and sounds will we re-modified and it has the total length of 10:07 minutes. The movie features “Kyoshinhei” (Giant God Warriors) from “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and it was made to show the fascination and the fun of Miniature Tokusatsu.”

At least we know what a can be done with the studio’s help, just think of what they can do if they were to do a live-action film.

If you were a fan of Hayley Atwell‘s portrayal of Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger then it must have been something of a disappointment that the actress won’t be joining the fun in the modern day-set Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But don’t count Peggy out yet. The actress, while talking to The Age, says that there may be something in the ether to get Peggy Carter in on the fun. What is it? Well, here’s what Atwell had to say:

“There’s been an online campaign for Peggy to be featured. People really liked her. So Marvel have made sure that as part of Comicon there will be a little kind of snapshot as to what Peggy’s actually really capable of, which was finished here and which was great fun. Hopefully, it will lead to other things.”

“A snapshot,” she says? Does that mean a cameo in Winter Soldier, or maybe a short film of her own?

Tragic news from Mega City One today as it seems that despite the faintest hope of fans there will be no Dredd 3-D sequel coming soon to a theater near you.

The news comes from Adi Shankar, producer of Dredd (and The Grey and Killing Them Softly) who did a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit Wednesday. Shankar was obviously pelted with fan questions about whether or not there will be a sequel to Dredd, and while he didn’t rule it out complete, the possibility seems unlikely at best. But after being pressed later in the chat, Shankar offered an emphatic, “[n]ot going to happen =(“.

But not all hope is lost. Shankar last summer produced the sort-of Punisher sequel Dirty Laundry, a short film where Thomas Jane reprised the role of Marvel Comics vigilante in the skull shirt. Shankar mentioned that there’s chance now for a similar Judge Dredd project. He didn’t go into details, no word on whether the short will be a sequel or if actor Karl Urban will be a part of it playing Dredd, but Shankar did express interest in using Kickstarter.

What do you think, Bastards? Any Dredd better than no Dredd, or are you crushed with paralyzing disappointment about there being no Dredd 3-D 2?

Want to break into the movie business? One avenue open to all is to produce a short film, post it to the Internet, and attract viewers. Once the masses tune in, the powers behind the scenes in Hollywood will most likely come knocking on your door. If your short is really good, expect it to be more like a pool of circling sharks.

Stephan Zlotescu put together a short film called True Skin, which is now in the planning stages to be developed into a feature film. Warner Brosthers picked up the rights and attached Zlotescu to direct. If Zlotescu can translate that short into a profitable film then he could see many other directing opportunities come his way.

True Skin synopsis below:

“True Skin” is a sci-fi short set in the not too distant future where augmentation is the way of life. For Kaye, still a natural, augmenting will help him keep pace in this now hyper-paced world. However, after acquiring an off-market prototype, Kaye quickly finds himself fighting not only for his own humanity, but something much larger.

Marvel has enjoyed unprecedented success building its cinematic universe, including the highly popular series of short films included on each subsequent Blu-ray release of Marvel Films. But each of the shorts so far, including the upcoming Item 47 being released with The Avengers, focus on events from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s point of view, and fans have been wondering if Marvel might see an opening in using this as a platform to introduce more substantive, previously established Marvel characters, like say, The Black Panther or Luck Cage.

In an interview with Film Junkies, Marvel co-president Louis D’Esposito unceremoniously shot down that possibility. Find his exact comments below:

“I love Black Panther, he is one of my favorite characters. But before we have a filmmaker on board, it is difficult to do anything. Because we want to involve them in the processes such as casting or design issues or even other areas for which one hires a director. So if we have a director on board and knew that we would turn Black Panther or Luke Cage and Ms. Marvel or whatever for a figure that is, then we would do maybe. But right now it is logistically a difficult hurdle.”

Well maybe I oversold the negative. He said it was a logistically difficult hurdle right now, but he didn’t completely rule it out. It just might be a good idea worth exploring. There’s only the whole Marvel universe at their disposal.

Marvel’s latest tradition, “one-shot” short films on their DVD releases, is getting a serious shot of ambition with the new film being released with Blu-ray edition of The Avengers this fall.

Following up on the shorts “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer” and “The Consultant,” which were released on the Blu-rays of Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger respectively, The Avengers disc will feature a new short called Item 47. At 12 minutes, it will be three-times longer than the previous shorts, and as opposed to the single-setting shorts starring the late-Agent Phil Coulson (played by his still living portrayer Clark Gregg), Item 47 will strive to show the greater effect of the events of The Avengers on the so-called average folk of the Marvel Film Universe.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Item 47 will follow a New York City couple played Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield) and Jesse Bradford (Flags of Our Fathers), who discover one of the abandoned Chitauri weapons, and decide to go on a little crime spree. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents played by Maximiliano Hernández (returning from small parts in Thor and The Avengers) and Titus Welliver (Lost) follow in hot pursuit.

The world is topsy-turvy now. There’s been an alien invasion, and things are crazy. So when this gun ­literally fell into their lap, this is a sign: We’re going to rob a few banks, we’re going to buy a boat, we’re going to the Caribbean, and all our problems will be solved.

Eric Pearson, who wrote the screenplay for all Marvel One-Shots so far, including Item 47, adds that that the intention of the short was to show how the Chitauri invasion impacted the average citizen:

Anything that expands the world and shows you the more human elements of it, that just makes the world more colorful and fun for the average viewer.

But aside from doing side-stories (like Item 47) or doing some slight teasing (like with the other two shorts), D’Esposito sees a bigger tableau for the Marvel One-Shots:

There’s always a potential to introduce a character. We have 8,000 of them, and they can’t all be at the same level. So maybe there are some that are not so popular, and we introduce them [with a short] – and they take off. I could see that happening.

So by now you’re probably salivating at getting a chance to see Item 47. Well the good news is that if you’re going to the San Diego Comic Con, you’ll be able to see the whole thing. The bad news (or good depending on whether you like games and have an iPhone) is that you’ll have to follow a Scavenger Hunt through San Diego itself to find the location. You’ll have to download the Avengers Second Screen app (available for free download at the iTunes store this Friday) to get the clues. Not going to Comic Con? You too can download the app and get access to a special clip from the film.

So what do you Bastards think? Excited for the new clip? More cool stuff from Marvel, or powerfully lame and capitalistic?

“The Death of Superman” was a major, major, MAJOR event in comics. It was HUGE. And in the end all it managed to do was royally piss of legions of diehard Superman fans. While at the time DC Comics raked in almost unheard of dough from initial sales, since then Action Comics has suffered.

But why am I telling you this. I’ll leave it to Max Landis, screenwriter of Chronicle and son of John Landis, to tell you all about The Death and Return of Superman. This short film is probably the best version of the tale you’ll ever watch. Believe me. And keep an eye out for some famous faces like Mandy Moore as Lois Lane, Elijah Wood as Cyborg Superman, Simon Pegg as John Landis, plus other nerdy cameos.

Insane, right? And totally effin’ hilarious. In fact, seeing this short makes me more interested in Chronicle knowing it comes from the mind of Max Landis. How about you?

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